In my last few posts I’ve been introducing my A.C.C.E.P.T.™ program. Each week, I’ve covered one portion of the program. The first week was Acknowledge, the second was Compassion, the third was Courageous Communication.
This week is about empathy. The dictionary defines empathy as “the feeling that you understand and share another person’s experiences and emotions: the ability to share someone else’s feelings.” When a parent is struggling to accept their child as gay, bisexual or transgender and the child is feeling uncomfortable in their own home and having difficulty understanding the parent’s struggle, empathy can be difficult.
But it’s not impossible when the parents connect to the love they have for their child and the child connects to the love they have for their parents. From there, parents can see and understand that it took courage for their child to come out. They can see that their child trusted their parents love for them. From a place of love, the child can see that their parents are struggling AND still love them. They can give them the time they need to process the new information they have about who their child is.
Empathy is one more step on the road back to understanding and acceptance.
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